A Treasure Hunt at Arlington

This is my nephew. This very special moment came just moments after the military funeral service for my father took place. The Chaplain stated, "Dennis honored the flag with his life; now the flag will honor Dennis." Then came the twenty-one gun salute; taps was played. It was beautiful. But, in the midst of the sad encore of walking away from where my father's remains would, remain, came a wonderful treasure hunt for those interested: the shell casings from the twenty-one gun salute. At first, I wondered why my nephews, aunts and cousins were doing a sort of chicken stroll and staring at the ground. For some reason, it took me quite a while to ask. Oh, the bullets, I thought!
The following day at the Smithsonian, my husband came up with the idea of having dog tags made with my father's name, Arlington N C and the date of interment on them, we'll make a hole in the bullet shell and our two oldest boys along with my youngest nephew will get them as a remembrance of their special treasure hunt.
In the midst of the mundane, exhausting trial of grief, God gave us these little gifts. I am thankful.
This post is a part of TUESDAYS UNWRAPPED
Thank you Emily for helping me to recognize these moments.